On a long car ride, I had the radio blaring Christmas songs. It’s the one time of year where you can really justify listening to Christmas music and not get funny looks. (Though, I admittedly enjoy Christmas songs in July and August when it’s over a hundred degrees Fahrenheit outside because it makes me think cool thoughts.) As the radio blared, I sang loudly. My cheeks were rosy with the effort of singing, and I was having a jolly old time even if I may have been off-key at times because I knew– despite the rare glimpse of other drivers– they couldn’t hear me, and therefore could not hear me make up words to songs I didn’t know!
On the radio came “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year”, a 1963 song celebrating Christmas which was written by Edward Pola and George Wyle. It was performed by pop singer Andy Williams that same year. As I stopped singing to listen to the song’s lyrics, one of the lines from the song really struck me:
There’ll be scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago.
The line made me stop and think about why we might not carry out this tradition– sung about a mere half-century ago. What caused it to fall out of favor?
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I admit it. I am a history nerd. I love exploring the past because the present is always, well, present. I like exploring the way things used to be done and wondering if we really do it better now. However, my history focus leans heavily toward the Medieval Period and Ancient British history. There’s not much about 19th and 20th century history that interests me, yet I do find the exploration of early 20th century abandoned buildings a fascinating endeavour, though one I’ve never participated in myself. I don’t know exactly what the attraction is to viewing these once great monuments to society and all its trappings, but I’ve come to realise that my interest – and that of others – is perpetuating illegal activity. One that is also taken up in the name of paranormal investigations.
The Witching Hour 